Recommended Instrumentation

10-40 Watt Light Bulb

Wattage needs to be accurate.

The purpose to quantify the discharging of a charged battery. Possible source: auto parts store, local auto mechanic's shop. Be sure that the discharge rate is within the battery's factory-specified recommended rate (not discharing faster than recommended).

Multimeter

Battery Capacity Analyzer

: "We use a very special meter to determine the charge in the secondary battery. That meter is called a BK Precision Battery Capacity Analyzer, Model 600." -- John Bedini, Oct. 20, 2004

BK Model 600 : "12V Sealed Lead-Acid Battery Capacity Analyzer"

: B&K Precision model 600 measures the storage capacity of 12V Lead Acid Batteries and displays the batteries capacity as a percentage. This can help identify batteries, which may be defective or deteriorated.

: Pulls just over 5 amps for less than a second. Non-test load, for digital display is 100 mA.